How much soap is in your house?

[earlene]

I just gave so much of it away, I was probably down about 25-30%, but I still really don't know how much that is. Then I made more - at least 5 batches. For the most part, I've switched to small batches all the time so I can make soap more often, but my eldest son had a specific request & I went with a larger batch with that one, which totalled I think about 3 pounds of soap in one batch. Even so I still have way too much soap. I do have two more family to mail to when I return from Hawaii.

Mailing soap to family all at once is quite costly, though, so there is that. Normally I just take a boxful of various soaps while on a roadtrip and let family choose from the box during my travels. Sometimes I leave a bar or two as a thankyou for the hotel staff when I stay somewhere nice, along with a thank you note. If I did that more often, I could really cut into my inventory quite a lot, but I usually don't really think of packing soap for anyone but family.

Previously I took soap to the Nursing Home in May for National Nurses Day, but now I take it a minimum of twice yearly, sometimes thrice. I take soap with me to my Dr. appointments and give to the staff there, as well and it is always appreciated.

I thought of bringing a boxful of soap and putting a sign on it saying 'Free Soap - Feel free to take a bar or two and leave the rest for others' and leaving the box at a rest area along my travels. I have not yet decided if I will do this unless it is a rest area in a more depressed area where I tend to see travelers who look like they are more in need than those who tend to stop in some of the other rest areas I see. There is a marked difference in who tends to spend more time at certain rest areas around the country. The trouble is, my travels don't always take me to the rest areas of which I am thinking might have more folks with a greater need for free soap.

 

[msunnerstood]

I sell my soap but business slows down in the summer but my itch to soap doesnt so I wind up with waaayyyy too much. Luckily it will pick up in September and then theres Christmas.. then maybe ill have an extra shelf

 

[Chris_S]

I have the same problem - I don't sell my soap and I do not plan to. I live alone, so I don't use it up very quickly. I give some to my family - and when I make new friends (just moved) I will give some to them. But I have quite a lot and still wanting to make more! I am looking into places where I can donate some. I just ordered some tags and jute string to put a handwritten note on and I plan to give one to my hairdresser this week along with my tip. That will reduce my bars by one - not much but it's a start lol.

I do want to start selling but it costs to get them legal to sell in the UK so I cant sell any right now till its certified it's a right faff unfortunately! Iv got faaaaaar too much oil to not soap more soon just found 4 more liters of olive oil and 3 liters of rice bran oil in a box in my bedroom.

I'm just a hobbyist and make as needed.
I've only made a few of batches so far.
I'm down to my last bar now so I'll need to get going on it soon.
But I also enjoy making bathbombs, lip balms, salves, jam, jelly, syrup, etc. So I can always make those when I'm nott making soap.

Would you mind sharing your bath bomb recipe? Iv been trying various recipes out but dont have a bath myself so I'm kinda limited with testing them so a tried and tested one would be great if you dont mind! The ones iv made have always sunk and sat at the bottom of the bowl iv put them in before and during the fizzing not sure what iv done wrong but iv recently seen one that says put them in fridge overnight before trying to unmould them

 

[RobinRogers]

I don’t sell soap yet because I haven’t quite figured out recipes I want to sell. I am experimenting, still. I would say I have about 300-400 bars. I give soap to all my friends and tell them to let me know what they think, which was their favorite, etc. I plan to give soap to at least 40 people at Christmas. I’m not doing just one bar per person, either! I have been shopping all year for soap related items to put in baskets for gifts. Guys who shave will love the shaving soap with cups and brushes. I actually poured into shaving mugs!
I do plan to sell at some point. Just not sure when. I have been told to get insurance and label properly, and I guess I should figure out how much the average Bar costs to make. I’m a long way from selling, I suspect.

 

[NZ doll]

I know what you mean. My daughter recently has been taking sample bars to her workplace for feedback and has gotten a few orders. Now I have to get labels and packaging done . I honestly have 300-400 experimental bars of soap in the cupboard curing. My issue is, they look homemade. They're missing some finesse I think.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

YAHOO-- I have gone from 6 good sized boxes down to 3. I have a Farmers Market, a Craft Fair and 3 days of a county fair next week so hopefully I will be down even more next week. and then have 3 markets every week until Sept. and then a Draft Horse Craft Fair also. and I have a line on a winter once a month market and a Christmas market. I have another Craft Fair I would like to attend but I don't know if I will have enough soap ready to make it worth the money. needless to say I am surprised and very happy . and I have been selling enough unscented soap that I am going to expand my line of that. I think the best feeling I have gotten from this is when the little girls come to my stand wanting to buy soap--its so stinking cute. and the little kids that have been coming now have all been so nicely behaved. 1 lady came with 6 little ones and I was impressed at how they behaved--she held the bars for them to smell with out me even suggesting it

 

[SoapSap]

Right now about 150 bars! Will be gifting a lot this year.

 

[glendam]

Hobbyst here primarily: I soap about once a month, and I try to make two batches the same day. Because I have way too much soap in the house (and I have given away a lot!), I started making soap in my smallest mold (which makes 7 bars), and I have forced my self to do other things such as conditioner, lotions, etc that I had bought the supplies for a while back. I think I have about 200 bars of soap more or less (of the decent kind, I have a basket of those I did not like, my discard pile). I have signed up for soap challenges to give myself an excuse to make soap!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I have over 200 bars after having just sent quite a bit of soap off to family and friends. At 6 months I’m still making at least 1 batch of soap a week because I’m learning and it helps me to try the next tweak or variation soon after I make something new. I stick to 1-2 lbs of oil at a time to help keep things under control . The size of the mold for the 1 lb batches is limiting for learning new techniques, but fine for testing recipes, fragrances and colors. I haven’t started giving soap away at work because I’m wasn’t sure that I even wanted anyone to know that I am making soap, but I’m getting over that now. I also plan to give soap to the local women’s shelter once I feel confident that my soaps won’t be developing DOS. As hobbies go, the cost of ingredients has remained reasonable with a little hunting around to find where the lowest prices are at the local grocery stores. It’s certainly a lot less expensive than traveling, skiing, diving. And, when I stay at home making soap, my wardrobe needs on the weekend are minimized .

 

[amd]

For everyone who soaps as a hobby: how often do you soap, how big are your batches, how much soap is stockpiled in your house, how much soap is TOO much for you to decide you can't soap on a given day...and any other soapy details.

For those who soap as a business:
What made you decide to sell, how often do you soap, and any other soapy details.

When I started soaping as a hobby 5-1/2 years ago (wow that went fast!) I made small batches, about 5-6 bars, every month of uncolored unscented soap. I was tweaking and fine tuning the recipe for my family, so between the three of us we could use up most of what I made each month. Extra bars went to my dad or friends, so I never had excessive soap lying around unless I had bought a large amount from other handmade soapers. (Sometimes a girl just wants to use a pretty scented soap in the shower!) I made more soap when soap came off the cure rack.

When I found a recipe that I liked and had made for several months straight, I decided I wanted to make "pretty soap" so started looking into the cost of buying color and scent. When I saw how expensive it was, I made a 15 minute decision to start a business. (Not a recommended business plan, btw. I'm still completely overwhelmed after 4 years in business of "Things I don't know I don't know".) These days I make 4 bar test batches, most batches are 9 - 18 bars. I try not to stock more than 700-ish bars, partly because I don't have space and partly because I don't have a large clientele. I make soap somewhat weekly, and to an extent, I still make the soap that I want to make (which also means that sometimes I have soap that doesn't appeal to anyone but me).

My personal soap stash currently fills two of these boxes. It's about 50% my soap and 50% other peoples soap.

Edited to fill in a few more details.

 

[Tasha]

Soaping for me is more of a hobby been making soap for about 3 years now and normally I have about 50-75 bars in the house. I like to give them away and see what people think of them and then started getting orders for some bars. I really just like to play around with it and try different things and I'm just getting into coloring the bars and trying swirling and it's been pretty fun. Have a really hard time with scenting the soaps though not very creative there.

I make soap depending on my free time. During the summer I make soap at least twice a week. When school starts it can be once a month or whenever I get on the web and get inspired. One day I would like to do farmers market though just need a bigger variety,

 

[dixiedragon]

only 140 days till Christmas. Somebody needs to update that thread, lol.

 

[SunRiseArts]

I only soap now when my supply is getting low or near holidays such as Easter and Christmas. When I first started soaping, I made soap several times a week.

Same here. Plus I started a new job, and have no time for myself

 

[math ace]

I have 60 bars of soap in the house right now! Usually, I wouldn't have that many. I am exploring fragrances this summer, so each bar is a different scent. At the end of this experiment I want to have about 20, can't live without, fragrances to work with. From those, I will make pretty bars for my family and friends. Totally, hobby status here. I like creating the "art". I've made melt and pour for years. This year, I branched into CP and discovered how that process can totally ruin a really good fragrance! Oh, how I miss the simplicity of M & P!

 

[Trisher]

Bars galore! I have made over 35 batches since January. I don't have enough family and friends to keep giving to! I appreciated earlene's suggestions for disseminating these little treasures.

Off to 'fancy up' some soaps to give to the volunteer staff at church camp this week.

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

I’m way low on soap but I’m done selling for the summer season. Probably about 30 bars on hand. I’m about to go into holiday soaping mode where I’ll make around 500-600 bars of soap. This doesn’t include lotion and other random stuff that I will be making.

I currently soap 4-5 times a year making around 500 bars in a week. My goal is to sell out at year’s end for less inventorying for tax time. It’s not a ton of soap but I don’t really go into changing my basic soap recipe often other than scents and colors.

 

[amazingkitkat]

I have 2 batch of soaps in my house and each bar has 1.5kg

 

[Mooicle]

Getting ready for fall fairs so today is it at 1010 bars.

WOW! That is a lot of soap!!!!

 

[Mooicle]

I have the same problem - I don't sell my soap and I do not plan to. I live alone, so I don't use it up very quickly. I give some to my family - and when I make new friends (just moved) I will give some to them. But I have quite a lot and still wanting to make more! I am looking into places where I can donate some. I just ordered some tags and jute string to put a handwritten note on and I plan to give one to my hairdresser this week along with my tip. That will reduce my bars by one - not much but it's a start lol.

 

[lucycat]

I do 4 large fairs in the fall. For the most part soaping is my summer activity for selling in the fall.